Matt from marketing asks: Think you could tie our Chili Cookoff next week into our larger mission of Helping People Share Who They are With The World?
Next week we will be having our 20th annual Queensboro Chili Cookoff. With a $20 stipend and a dream, any employee can take his or her shot at the title of Queensboro Chili Champion 2018.
The Chili Cookoff is always a great day at Queensboro. It always corresponds with Halloween. Sometimes we have a costume party. Sometimes not. It depends upon how frisky people are feeling. This year, apparently, people are feeling pretty frisky.
2018 has been a fantastic year for Queensboro. We have always been very good at what we do, as is evidenced by our many longtime customer and the number of customers who come back to us year after year. In 2018, however, we made very satisfying progress towards our goal of becoming a Great Company.
Being great for us is much more than growing to a certain size or making a lot of money. Greatness to us is about creating an environment and building a team that billows positive energy and brings smiles to everyone we touch.
At Queensboro we get together every month for a company luncheon and sometimes have some fun activities like free throw shooting contests, team trivia or desert cook offs. Over the years, the annual Chili Cookoff has become our signature event. Having done it for so many years, we talk about it a lot during the year. Older employees reminisce and brag. Newer employees anticipate becoming part of the tradition. It has become part of our DNA and a great expression of who we are.
Much like how our customers’ logos represent who they are, the spirit of community we harness through this event shows us at our essence. You couldn’t be a visitor at our Chili Cookoff and not want to do business with us! Just as our customers’ custom logo shirts, hats, bags and promotional products help them create and identify a community, our annual Chili Cookoff does that for us.
We may not be sharing who we are with the world, but we are sharing who we are with each other, and that is the first step.
Plus, we always produce a great t-shirt!
Happy Halloween everyone.